Invicta Seniors Storm to 3rd place

Invicta's Men turned out in full force for the first Kent Cross Country of the season at Capstone Park, Chatham to post our best result in almost a decade. On a wet & windy day, 3 Invicta debuts were made : Damien Vandgama finished 21st in 34.22, one place behind Team Manager Mark Wilkins (20th in 34.08) while Tom Purnell (41.31) and Tim Kerr (48.10) were the others making their debut in 89th and 123rd respectively. Tom Sutton 62nd (38.47) making a long awaited appearance was Invicta's 3rd man home, followed by our leading Vet Adam Cowper-Smith (65th) in 39.10 despite still recovering from his great Thanet Marathon run. John Wilkins (40.19) continuing his comeback from injury was 76th, and Roger Newson (42.02) made his first appearance for a couple of seasons in 94th. Dean Fitzpatrick 131st 63.55 showed everyone how tough cross country runners really are, completing half the race without his shoes!! Our Men finished 3rd in the 4-to-score event, an impressive performance considering how we struggled to get just 4 to run last season!! Another 3 runners and Invicta are now close to fielding a team in the 12-man competition, so I’ll be counting on everyone turning out at Mote Park on 25th Oct. Mark Wilkins – Senior Men XC Team Manager

Storming win by Invicta Junior boys

Our under-15 boys team inflicted a rare defeat on Tonbridge who are defending county and Regional champions. Although Tonbridge had 6 in the top 12 and we had 4, with Kieran Reilly in 12th, our young reds were led home by Hugo Hayes who held off the strong challenge of clubmates Alex Newson (3rd) and Jake Rogers (5th) to win a fine race. Elsewhere, Beth Carter continues her impressive undefeated run when cruising to a majestic win in the u-17 Women's race wher some of the athletes were sent the wrong way near the end. Click on underlined text for results [doc:335]